


How To Fail At Parenting (but still trying anyway)

by Shade_Penn1



Series: Croft and Son [3]
Category: Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkwardness, Camping, Gen, More of Lara's awkward attempts at parenting, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-30 18:06:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18320498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shade_Penn1/pseuds/Shade_Penn1
Summary: It was just supposed to be a simple camping trip, but it just went downhill from there.





	How To Fail At Parenting (but still trying anyway)

"Tents?"

"Check."

"Satellite phone?"

"Check."

"Energy bars?"

"Check."

"What are you two doing?"

Lara paused in reading her list. She glanced from Nero to Sam, who was leaning against the doorway to the mansion. An amused expression on Sam's face as she stared up at the vehicle packed with camping equipment. "Being prepared. I don't want to leave anything important behind." Lara said.

Sam raised a brow. "It's a weekend camping trip, not a nature retreat."

"It's a very important camping trip then." Lara said reaffirmed. She tried to keep a neutral tone, to not let anything color her voice. Deep down, she was terrified like never before. She was going to be spending her son's birthday weekend out in the woods with no phones or entertainment or anything connecting them to civilization.

Her son wanted this though, to forget about no one coming to his tenth birthday party by spending the rest of it with his mother. Lara would have done it just to put the smile back on his face, even if she was concerned about messing everything up.

"You can still come with us." Nero piped in.

Sam grimaced, waving her hand. "Sorry, kid, but I don't mix well with nature. If you both change your minds though, you can join me at the spa resort."

Nero rolled his eyes. Sam was off the hook for skipping out - she managed to find him a signed copy of an album from his favorite band and a new stereo to play it on. Not for the first time, Lara wondered whether she was being played and Sam knew Nero wanted a camping trip before he asked.

It left a deeper ache in Lara's heart to think Nero was willing to tell Sam things he couldn't tell her. Or even felt he couldn't.

"I'm sure we'll do just fine outdoors." Lara finally said. Sam waved them off as she left, and Lara finished checking off the items for the trip.

* * *

"I'm bored." Nero groaned from the back of the car, slumping in his seat.

Lara's stomach dropped. Oh no. ' _And it starts_.' She thought, and tried to come up with something to stave off the boredom. It... _was_ taking an awfully long time for backed up traffic to keep going, leaving the cars boxed in and going at a snail's pace. "Once we hit the countryside, the traffic should thin out. Why don't I put on some music?"

"No offense, Mom, but the music you like is boring." Nero said.

Lara tried very hard not to be offended, but she still turned up her nose. "You're welcome to try and find something you'd like then."

While Nero undid his seatbelt and leaned forward to begin fiddling with the radio, Lara peered through the window. The amount of cars still ahead was staggering, and she was beginning to get a cramp in her leg. Before long, she could imagine Nero might start whining about needing a restroom. Nero huffed, clicking off the radio and flopping back into his chair before fastening his seatbelt again.

"There's nothing on," he tugged the belt holding him in place, "and why can't I sit up front?"

"You're not old enough yet." Lara said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. He stared back, something mutinous beginning to form in his eyes. "How is school going?"

Nero broke their staring contest first. "You already saw my report card. You tapped it to the fridge." his cheeks dusted pink.

Lara's lips quirked up just a little. "Yes, I know that, but I'm asking how you've _been_? Are you getting along with the other kids? What about any sports or after school activities? Are you making frie-" she caught herself in time. The lack of children at Nero's party said enough about _that_.

Nero still wouldn't look at her. His shoulders shrugged, and his tone was subdued. "I'm thinking about trying out for basketball or soccer-uh, football."

Lara said nothing about how he didn't answer the first question. Apparently she hadn't caught herself after all. "Really? That's wonderful. I'll help you pick out equipment when I have the time."

Nero just nodded, but didn't say anything else. Not even about the long wait before the traffic started going. Lara found she couldn't find anything to fill the silence either.

_'Way to mess that one up, Croft.'_

* * *

 

The second the car stopped, Nero climbed out of the vehicle. Lara followed suite, and stretched out her legs, regaining feeling after spending nearly two hours cramped in the car and mounting tension.

Nero breathed in deep, his gaze darting around the wide open area behind them, before looking ahead at the forest before them. "How far to hike until we reach the camp grounds?"

Lara smiled, taking what joy she could from her son speaking to her after the silence. He really did sound glad to be here. "Not far, the co-ordinates gave perhaps a twenty minute walk until we reach the camp."

Nero nodded, and Lara started unpacking the equipment from the top of the car. The smaller pack she let Nero carry, while Lara hefted the bigger one onto her back. "Is it too heavy?" he asked.

Lara laughed softly, shaking her head. "It's nothing compared to some of what I have to carry while I'm at work." Nero's brows knitted together, but Lara gestured to the path into the woods.

It turned out to take a bit longer than twenty minutes, perhaps more charitably about forty minutes at most. The forest was alive around them though, calm and serene with birds chirping and far off deer calls. Nero was gazing about, taking in everything.

"As long as you don't go off site, you can take pictures while I set up camp." Lara said. Nero smiled brightly at her, before he ducked his head and nodded.

Once they reached the cleared area for campers' use, Lara stifled the groan as she shed the extra weight off her back. She stretched out her arms, glancing at Nero as he set his bag down and dug through his pack for his camera. Lara smiled to herself. And he thought he wouldn't need a camera.

"Don't go too far." she called after him, and he waved at her as he rushed to the clearing line. Lara caught the first flash of the camera, and went about putting up the tents and separating to each their tents the clothes for the weekend and blankets before making the fire pit. With another glance at Nero, Lara went to find a river nearby to scoop up water to put out the fire.

When she got back to the camp, Lara froze. She scanned the area, and dropped the bucket as she dashed to her son's tent. He wasn't inside, he wasn't in the _camp_. "Nero? Nero!" she called. Her heart pounded as she scanned the tree line and her mind went into hyper drive. Where was he? Had something happ-

A twig snapped, and Lara whirled in the direction behind her, looking beyond her tent. Nero blinked, coming back into camp. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

Lara's heart didn't stop thumping, and she rushed up to him. He went stiff as she grabbed his arms. "What were thinking? I told you not to leave camp!"

Nero stared at her, eyes blown wide as the camera fell from his slack grip. Ice trickled down Lara's spine at the fear in his eyes. She'd seen plenty of people gaze at her that way, but she never thought her son would be one of them.

Lara released him immediately, and she winced as he did. She'd gripped too tight. "I was - I was worried something happened to you." she said stiltedly. "Just - I - I'll get dinner ready."

Nero scampered by her, head ducked even lower. When he went into his tent, he didn't come back out for the rest of the evening. Even calling for him to eat hadn't worked.

So Lara ate alone, staring into the fire before glancing at the camera sitting on the log beside her. She exhaled deeply. ' _Some great start this is turning out to be.'_

* * *

Lara woke up before dawn. It was nothing new, she was having trouble sleeping anyway. Usually though, those troubles were about an expedition, how her son was doing at home, or what new danger she might be facing. Now, she was so out of her depth that it left her reeling about what to do next.

At home, the awkwardness of any interactions with Nero could be left between the periods they were in the same room together or moments spent speaking. Out here, it became so painfully obvious with how unsure she was. The fact she freaked out over such a small thing worried her, that she made her son _scared_ of her.

Lara rubbed her brow and got dressed, ideas of how to go about fixing this swimming in her head. It made her want to ask Sam what she did when Nero disobeyed her, and the thought knocked the breath from her. Her best friend probably knew how to parent her son better than she did.

Lara's chest ached, and she slipped out of her tent quietly. She squinted at the skyline, dawn just on the horizon. Her gaze was drawn to the rustling brush deeper in the forest. She tensed, but relaxed only slightly when a deer came out, trying for a better angle to nibble on the leaves and berries.

Glancing at her son's tent, Lara retrieved the camera from her own tent, and crept as quietly as she could to the animal. It's ear swiveled in her direction, and she was sure the flash would have sent it running even if her approach hadn't spooked it. Checking the picture, she found the image only slightly blurred from the deer already turning away. It would do though, and she got started on breakfast.

Nero missed dinner last night, so it wasn't really surprising he decided that hunger outweighed the awkwardness of being around her. Lara's chest tightened still when he sat away from her, and avoiding looking in her direction.

Taking a deep breath, Lara brought him a plate, and the camera. She caught him staring at the camera with confusion. "I shouldn't have gotten angry with you." she said softly, and Nero tensed up. "I should have told you why I didn't want you going off alone. There are no predators like bears or wolves in England anymore, but...it can still be dangerous out here. Snakes, rabid animals, even the herbivores can be vicious."

For all his insistence for space and pretending not to enjoy her attention, Nero grew up with all the comfort and safety Lara could provide for him. Nero clicked on the camera, and he paused at seeing the photo she took.

"If you wanted to go take pictures deeper in the forest, you just needed to ask." Lara added.

A silence stretched so long between them, before Nero said quietly, "You mean that?"

Lara's heart ached. Had she truly been so frightening to him yesterday? "Of course." she replied, and turned her gaze to the fire pit. "I'm so used to people being afraid of me, but I never...I never wanted for  _you_ to be afraid of me. I'm sorry." 

Time ticked by, and Lara wondered if her breakfast was getting colder by the second. Finally though, the tightness in her chest unwound as Nero shuffled closer to her.

"I'm sorry too. I was just so excited to be here that I...didn't realize what I was doing." he mumbled. He glanced at her with a cautious sort of hope. "Can we go hiking after breakfast?"

Lara smiled as gently as she could. "We most certainly can."

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally going to put more of the camping trip here, like it being an utter disaster, but I felt this was a good stopping point. More character stuff. If anyone wants to see probably badly done action, I'm all for adding a second chapter. No supernatural stuff yet, just dealing with nature kind of dangers.


End file.
